Call to audit BBC Radio's books
Updated on 04 June 2009
An MPs' committee wants BBC Radio costs made public after finding that the corporation spends far more on radio programmes than its commercial rivals.
The Commons public accounts committee is calling for the National Audit Office (NAO) to have the same power over the BBC's books as it does over government departments.
It follows publication of a report by the committee into the efficiency of BBC radio production, based on evidence from the BBC and the BBC Trust.
The committee has found that top presenters' salaries absorb over three-quarters of staff costs on the shows they present – meaning the BBC spends far more on radio programmes than rivals in the private sector.
Committee chairman Edward Leigh said: "The National Audit Office has a statutory right to examine the details of expenditure in any government department. It has no such right of audit access to the BBC, despite the fact that the corporation is funded with over £3bn of public money each year."
"All of this places a big question mark over whether the BBC is achieving value for money for the licence payer."
But the BBC says that to disclose the salaries of its presenters would risk driving up costs. Jeremy Peat of the BBC Trust warned that disclosing payments risked "working against efforts across the BBC to drive down costs".
And he denied that the NAO’s inability to see BBC Radio accounts breached disclosure rules. "We believe our approach in this case was in line with the data protection act," he said.
The committee looked at the amount being spent on radio programming across the BBC's 10 radio stations. It found that the Wake Up To Wogan show is the worst culprit, costing twice as much per hour as its most expensive competitor in the private sector.
